This transcript is from the **Oakdale Environmental Management Commission (EMC)** meeting on May 15, 2023. Based on the context of the dialogue and the list of officials provided, I have identified the speakers (Chair Keith Gerding, Commissioners Bonnie Wilson and Commissioner Brown, Staff members Max Losi and Andrew Gitzlaff, and Consultant Sean Hayford Oleary). [00:00] **Chair Keith Gerding**: I call to order the May 15, 2023, meeting of the Oakdale Environmental Management Commission. Our first item will be the Pledge of Allegiance, so if we can all stand and face the flag. [Pledge of Allegiance]. Let's start with the roll call. Commissioner Gerding? [00:30] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Here. Commissioner Wilson? [00:32] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: Here. [00:34] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Commissioner Brown? [00:36] **Commissioner Brown**: Here. [00:38] **Chair Keith Gerding**: And we have also with us this evening staff; Andrew Gitzlaff is with us, as well as—Mark Lewis? No, Max Losi. Max Losi, no worries, sorry Max. We had a call earlier this week but it escaped me for a moment. Max is our staff person working directly with our commission. Tonight, the first item on our agenda is our old business, and it involves the Bike and Pedestrian Plan update. We have been working as a commission giving input on the bike and pedestrian plan as it's been developed, and we continue to track this and give input. Tonight we will be getting an update on the status of that plan. So, I think I'll turn it over to you at this point, Max. [01:15] **Max Losi (Staff)**: Great, thank you. I don't know if we want to have Sean come up and present here. [01:20] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: Thanks, Max. Good evening everyone. I was just pulling up the packet that you all have. I see the map is up on the screen there and I'll walk through the different documents here. I'm assuming each of you have had time to review it, but if you haven't and you need me to slow down on something, just let me know. Right now all these documents that are here tonight in front of you are in draft form. I would say we've started the process of ranking projects according to different factors, and we're looking for your feedback on that process. We're really not complete with it; we're in the middle of the process. That's why we're checking in tonight just to get your all's feedback on it. The map is the first graphic in your packet. The map shows different projects. In general, the colored dots mean what we're initially thinking about the phasing of projects—near-term, midterm, or long-term. Near-term we're thinking in the next five years, midterm in the next five to ten, and long-term beyond ten years. Each project is numbered and corresponds to the spreadsheet on page 5. On the following page is the process we’ve started to use to rank the projects using five factors: cost estimates, crashes involving bicyclists or pedestrians, public demand, destinations (schools, parks, etc.), and state/federal grant funding eligibility. I'll stop there and see if you have any questions about the ranks or feedback on those factors. [06:10] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Well, one thing I see is the column for "crashes score"—there's nothing there. Is that because you have no data on that? [06:20] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: That's because we have not gotten the data yet. There are some hoops that we have to jump through with MnDOT to get that data. We'll be filling that in as soon as we get that crash data. [06:45] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: I have a question about the destination score. Did I just hear you say it's based on data from about three years ago? [07:00] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: Yes, when the project first started before COVID hit. The project went on pause, but this destination analysis had already been completed. [07:15] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: I just know there will be more development up there, so I just don't know—it seems like that column is a fluctuating score. [07:30] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: That's fair. As the city evolves, this will become less accurate over time, especially in the Willowbrook area. We ranked the factors all equally for now, but we can weight them differently if you think one factor, like destinations, should get less weight because the data is older. [08:15] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Just one comment on that: it seems that crashes maybe should have a higher ranking depending on the data you get. Back in the survey, safety was the top issue. [08:45] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: Absolutely. If we have more crashes overall, we might want to give it more weight. [09:15] **Commissioner Brown**: Random comment and question: regarding the MnDOT crash database—are there other things like volunteer-based or private sector groups that would have additional data to cross-reference, or is that just not a thing? [09:45] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: It might be a can of worms, but I don't know that other data would be located by intersection like the crash data is. Hospital data exists, but it doesn’t do as good a job as the Department of Public Safety. It does not capture every crash, but it’s the best we know about. [11:00] **Commissioner Brown**: And I would think since we border Maplewood and North St. Paul, the data is inclusive of those corridors? [11:15] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: Exactly. We would see the crashes in neighboring communities too. Highway 120 is likely a corridor where you'll see more. [11:45] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: There's a section under future facilities that says "future signed walking and bicycling route" and it has some purple dots way up to the north. Can you describe that better? [12:15] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: Those are pretty quiet residential streets where the necessity of putting a sidewalk or shared-use path is much lower. It would be disruptive to residents. So we are recommending signs that direct people to connections, like the spur off the Gateway Trail. [14:00] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: I have one question about 16B. There are two marks on the map that don't equate to anything on the legend. Am I not understanding something? [14:30] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: 16B is Stillwater Boulevard (County Highway 6). It’s a short sidewalk connection. There is an existing sidewalk by the Canvas business that drops for about 100-200 feet before the intersection. We added that so the sidewalk is no longer isolated. [16:00] **Max Losi (Staff)**: Sean, given that the last EMC meeting the folks only had a high-level view, are there any projects the EMC should specifically know or highlight? [16:45] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: Big picture, Oakdale has a pretty good network already. We are mostly trying to connect the dots. For example, on Granada Avenue, there’s already a path between Stillwater and 15th, so we are recommending extending that north of Stillwater. We're also looking at about 22 miles of projects to ensure every neighborhood has facilities. I'd highlight Century Avenue, 10th Street, and Stillwater Boulevard as they are on the Regional Bicycle Transportation Network and have a higher likelihood of federal funding. [19:30] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Just to mention the 16B project and that sidewalk—this is one of the few places where an existing shared-use path changes the side of the road right at Stillwater Boulevard. To get on it, you have to stop and cross Stillwater, then cross Hadley. It can get a little hairy there with the right-turn lanes. [20:15] **Max Losi (Staff)**: Mr. Chair, I think project 17—the sidewalk on the west side of Hadley—is trying to fill that gap so people don't have to cross the street twice to get to Walton Park. [20:45] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: Yes, we can recommend solutions like improved intersection safety maneuvers there. [22:15] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: Would it be a good idea to put bus stops on this map, or is it too cluttered? [22:30] **Sean Hayford Oleary (Consultant)**: We have a different version of this map that shows bus stops. We can definitely include that. Also, we caught that we need to label the Oakdale Nature Preserve and Walton Park correctly. We’ll be adding Maplewood as a label as well. [25:00] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Thank you for your work on this. [25:15] **Max Losi (Staff)**: And Commissioners, if you have any thoughts on individual intersections or gaps, please reach out. [25:45] **Chair Keith Gerding**: We'll move along to our new business. First item is the Xcel Energy Fleet Electrification Advisory Program. Max, do you want to start? [26:15] **Max Losi (Staff)**: Certainly. The data collection period is now over. We have initial recommendations for which vehicles would be good candidates for electric or hybrid replacements for both police and non-police cars. [26:45] **Andrew Gitzlaff (Staff)**: Just to add, this was a grant from Xcel Energy and a company called Sawatch Labs. They put telematics devices in our vehicles to track them for three months. The next step is looking at charging infrastructure. [28:00] **Chair Keith Gerding**: The next item is an update on the Great Plains Institute EV Smart Program. [28:15] **Max Losi (Staff)**: We joined this in February. We recently had our first meeting with consultants and we came away with very strong scores. We are very close to reaching the "Bronze" designation based on our existing policies and ordinances. [29:00] **Chair Keith Gerding**: It's good to know the work we've done in the past on city ordinances has paid off. Great Plains Institute is a great organization. [29:30] **Commissioner Brown**: As we are sharing the success on being close to the Bronze level, what are the things we are already doing well? [29:45] **Max Losi (Staff)**: We've made the permitting process clear and streamlined. [30:00] **Andrew Gitzlaff (Staff)**: A big part was the EV plan and the ordinance we passed last year to allow EV charging as an accessory use in residential and commercial districts. [31:15] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Moving to the 2023 Washington County Recycling Grant. Max? [31:45] **Max Losi (Staff)**: We have been awarded the grant. It's around $50,000, which is consistent with previous years. It helps fund outreach, drop-off events, and mailers. [32:15] **Chair Keith Gerding**: This grant is important for meeting our waste reduction goals. [33:00] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: I'm excited about the single-use plastics part. Are we going to have a special design for reusable bags? [33:15] **Andrew Gitzlaff (Staff)**: We can work with Communications on branding or a slogan for a bag to distribute at the Farmers Market. [34:30] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Any commissioner updates or announcements? [35:15] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: I have an announcement as part of Age-Friendly Oakdale. We received a grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to assess transportation needs and barriers for older adults and people with disabilities in Oakdale. We will be holding community conversations to see what citizens want their transportation future to look like. [36:30] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Once again, this Saturday is the Environmental Commissioners conference in Minnetonka at the Ridgedale Library from 9 to 12. [36:45] **Commissioner Brown**: Just a shout out to our tree board and city staff for a rockstar tree giveaway event. We are very pleased with our new disease-resistant Elm. [37:15] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Our Council Liaison didn't make it, but Andrew, do you have any updates? [37:30] **Andrew Gitzlaff (Staff)**: I'll read the Mayor's updates. 200 trees were claimed at Arbor Day. The Jane Klein Memorial spring planting added 40 new trees. Development continues at Willowbrook and the Oakdale Marketplace. On housekeeping, we are interviewing for Shannon’s replacement. Also, the next meeting would be June 19th, but that is Juneteenth and city offices are closed. Staff is comfortable foregoing the June meeting and waiting until July 17th to review the Bike/Ped draft. [39:30] **Chair Keith Gerding**: I think that makes good sense. Let's plan on meeting in July. I'd look for a motion to adjourn. [40:30] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: I move to adjourn. [40:35] **Commissioner Brown**: Second. [40:40] **Chair Keith Gerding**: All in favor say aye. [40:42] **Commissioners**: Aye. [40:45] **Chair Keith Gerding**: Meeting is adjourned.